Six people facing disciplinary process in wake of Aoife Johnston’s death

The head of the HSE has said that six people are facing a disciplinary process in relation to Aoife Johnston as he apologised to the family again for failings in the teenager’s care.

Bernard Gloster said there was still “a risk” of reoccurrence at University Hospital Limerick’s (UHL) emergency department, but the risk was now reduced and said the aim was to make the hospital “safer”.

An independent report found that a “grossly overcrowded” emergency department and “lack of clarity” on sepsis protocols were among the factors ahead of Aoife’s death at UHL two years ago.

The 16-year-old died at the hospital after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis.

Aoife presented to the hospital’s emergency department (ED) on the evening of Saturday, December 17th, 2022 following a referral from an out-of-hours GP service which had queried the possibility of sepsis.

She was not administered the appropriate sepsis bundle of medication until 13 hours later,…